With two consecutive State titles in Poetry under his belt, senior Gavin Eischens finishes his historic career at St. Clair in rare company as a back-to-back champion in Speech. Eischens sat down with the Journal to discuss his recent victory, reflect on his Speech career at St. Clair, and what the activity means to him.
Eischens joined the St. Clair Speech team in eighth grade in 2019–the same year the program started at the school–as an eighth grader entering a strange world full of kids talking to lockers and walls, Eischens admitted that his first meet didn’t go exactly as planned. “I still didn’t really know what Speech was at the time, so that first meet was just terrifying. I went up to speak with my script and I was so scared, my eyes started watering, so it looked like I was crying.”
Despite his terror, Eischens would still compete at a high level at a young age and of course, over time, Eischens would steel his resolve when speaking at weekly tournaments. It was his sophomore year of competition when he realized “what I can do as a performer and maximize my potential” in Speech. Eischens was a dominant force during his junior and senior seasons throughout the regional Speech circuits, and his two championships at State are the symbolic cherry on top.
He competed in Prose Interpretation for the extent of his career and while he had success in the event, Poetry was his true calling when it came to performance. Eischens detailed what went into his process when it comes to understanding the literature and connecting with the emotional themes involved. “One of the first things I’ll think of is how I want to perform each piece of the program and I’m looking for specific standout moments throughout the performance.”
One of the standout moments in his Poetry program is a heartbeat sound effect he would utilize throughout the performance. Eischens also stated how vital it is to “understand each and every word” said throughout the piece because “each word comes with its own emotion and it takes a lot of work to commit to each word you say.”
His poetry program consisted of three separate poems aligning to speak about one important message: mental health in America. His works came from Button Poetry, with one piece by Rudy Francisco and the other two by Catalina Ferro. Eischens detailed his performance illustrated, “The mental health crisis in America and how people who feel alone should seek help.”
The program discusses a wide array of mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and the limited resources the healthcare system can provide those in need and Eischens took inspiration from one of his coaches when selecting the piece, “I wanted to represent mental health disorders on a bigger stage and get people talking about this issue. I think I did a pretty good job of that.”
The Journal never got to actually witness Eischens perform the speech, but if it’s good enough to claim a second State title–you know it has to be astounding. However, there were certain parts of the speech that took more work than others according to Eischens, “The poem Orphan used a lot of repetition with ‘I am’ starting every sentence, so you have to be really in the moment to make that work.” The heartbeat effect used throughout the speech symbolized a simple yet poignant message: “You are still alive. It’s going to be okay.”
Returning to the State tournament for a chance to repeat as champion in Poetry was in the forefront of his mind, but Eischens had humble expectations for himself as he admitted “just being in the top six speakers” would have made him proud. Once he qualified for the Final round and gave what would be his final performance, Eischens felt confident that “I had won because that was the best I had ever performed it and people in the audience were both laughing and crying.” It wasn’t until the fourth place speaker was called–who Eischens admitted “thought was the best” – that he firmly believed he had achieved a back-to-back title in Poetry. He recalled several of the speakers in the final round and how their use of poetry and music lyrics “were different from anything I had seen.”
Upon hearing his name as the State Champion in Poetry, Eischens’ second championship seemed bittersweet to him. “I was happy to win another State championship and end my career here on a high note, but sad that the season and my career here at St. Clair is over. There’s nothing left for me to perform.”
Eischens is an incredible talent when it comes to Speech; I’ve been an avid follower of Speech for over a decade and to witness a powerhouse come from a school as small as St. Clair speaks to a high level of preparation, talent, and willingness to learn. His coaches, Dough Smith and Lori Wolf, are familiar with coaching State champions and the senior had nothing but gratitude for the both of them. “I’m thankful my coaches didn’t give up on me in those first few years when I wasn’t good right away. I wanted to get good and reach that next level and my coaches did a good job of giving us material that allows us to step up and get better.” He also spoke on his time as one of the leaders on the team and how his teammates would reach out to work on their pieces, “It was very refreshing to have people look for my guidance…they really respected my craft and the work I put into it and we all sort of helped each other with our pieces throughout the season.”
Eischens will attend college and pursue a science degree, so unfortunately, he may not have the opportunity–or the time– to compete in Speech at the college level. However, two State titles under his belt, memories made over five years at St. Clair, and being a leader to his team during his senior year is something he, the school, or the team won’t soon forget.
